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The Religious Landscape From 1945 to the Present
Outline changing patterns of religious adherence from 1945 to the present using census data *Christian denominations most popular in Australia. *Fastest growing category is “No Religion”. *Buddhism growing because of popularity with celebrities and other figures of merit or authority. *Religions with beliefs such as reincarnation and karma (e.g. Hinduism and Buddhism) growing in popularity. *Immigration has had the most dramatic effect on the current religious landscape of Australia, leading to an increase in some groups and the decline of others. *Other reasons for changing religious patterns in Australia are: :: - The movement from one denomination to another. - An increase in those seeking answers in new spiritual movements. - An increase in those who acknowledge they have no religion. *Census Data - Australian Bureau of Statistics. Account for the current religious landscape in Australia. Christianity as the Major Religious Tradition Christianity has been the primary religion post 1945 to today. The British who first came to Australia and inhabited it were mainly Christians. They formed a strong Christian base in Australia before the country let more immigrants enter. This base of Christians was split up into the different types of Christianity that came from different places for example: Anglican (British), Catholic (Irish/Italian) and Orthodox (Greek). In the census of 1947, out of the 7.5 million people in Australia, 88 per cent of the population (disregarding Aborigines) said they were Christian. The other 12 per cent was mainly made up from people who didn’t respond to the question. With Christianity as the major religious tradition in Australia from 1945, today the percentage of Christians has been decreased due to the exposure of new religions. In the census of 2001 it is seen that out of 18.8 million people 68 per cent classed themselves as Christian and 4.9 percent said they were of a different religion. The number of people who said they had no religion was 15.5 percent. Today, however, the amount of other religions in Australia has risen significantly, notably Hinduism (the fastest growing religion in Australia), Buddhism and Islam. This is a huge difference since 1945 and one of the main reasons for this is immigration. Immigration: - The most significant reason for the increase in the diversity of the religious character in Australia is immigration. Immigration has led to an increase in both religious co-existence and diversity. - Increase in Christianity due to the relaxation of the White Australia Policy and introduction of immigrants from Britain. - Post WWll saw an increase in different denominations of the one religion. This is called 'religious pluralism'. - Catholic has remained steady due to immigration and Eastern Orthodox numbers are rising also due to immigration and a young congregation. - World War II meant increasing migration from Europe. This in turn led to: lol - growing numbers of Orthodox Christians, - the establishment of new Protestant groups, - growth in the number and diversity of Catholics. Jewish immigration from Europe has kept the proportion of Jews in Australia fairly constant at around 0.4%. In recent years, immigration from Asia and the Middle East has expanded Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim numbers considerably, and increased the ethnic diversity of existing Christian denominations. The decline of the 'White Australia' policy up to its final demise in 1973 meant that the migration of people from a greater variety of ethnic groups became easier. Overseas wars and persecution have led to waves of immigration from affected areas - e.g. Vietnam (1970s); Lebanon (1980s); Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina (1990s). The numbers of people who subscribe to Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam are steadily increasing largely due to immigration. The main sources of Islamic immigration are the Middle East (particularly Lebanon, Iraq and Iran), Europe ( Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Asia ( Malaysia and Indonesia). The growth of Buddhism is the result of immigration from troubled areas of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula - that is from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Denominational Switching Denominational switching refers to the transfer of followers from one Christian denomination to another. This phenomenon is far more common in Protestant denominations than in Catholic or Orthodox groups. Catholic and Orthodox Christians tend to have a higher level of denominational loyalty based on their appreciation of their own distinctive histories, traditions and liturgies. Protestants, especially younger ones, will more often ‘shop around’ for a new denomination based on factors such as liking the minister, style of worship and music, proximity to home, sense of community and activities (such as prayer groups, Bible studies and youth groups) provided by a particular congregation. People no longer remain in a particular denomination simply because their parents and grand-parents belonged to it or because they share the same ethnic background with other church members. Rise of New Age Religions New Age Religion is not a religion at all, but a vast syncretism of numerous religious and philosophical ideas. *The New Age Movement is in a class by itself. Unlike most formal religions, it has no holy text, central organization, membership, formal clergy, geographic center, dogma, creed, etc. *The New Age is in fact a free-flowing spiritual movement; a network of believers and practitioners who share somewhat similar beliefs and practices. New Age teachings became popular during the 1970's as a reaction against what some perceived as the failure of Christianity and the failure of Secular Humanism to provide spiritual and ethical guidance for the future. New Age Beliefs *Monism: All that exists is derived from a single source of divine energy. *Pantheism: God is all that exists. God is at once the entire universe, and transcends the universe as well. *Reincarnation: After death, we are reborn and live another life as a human. This cycle repeats itself many times. *Karma: The good and bad deeds that we do adds and subtracts from our accumulated record, our karma. New Age Practices *Channeling :A method similar to that used by Spiritists in which a spirit of a long dead individual is conjured up. *Channeling: has existed since the 1850's and many groups consider themselves independent of the New Age movement. *Crystals :Crystals are materials big balls which has its molecules arranged in a specific, highly ordered internal pattern. *Meditating :A process of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious thinking. *New Age Music :A gentle, melodic, inspirational music form involving the human voice, harp, lute, flute, etc. It is used as an aid in healing, massage therapy and general relaxation. Secularism Secularism is the belief that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society. There are multiple factors which have contributed to the decline of religion's relevance for the integration and legitimization of modern life. The increasing pluralism and materialism of society alongside society's increasing individualism and dissatisfaction with traditional religions are major reasons for secularization.. This trend is most evident in the significant increase in the number of people responding "No religion" in the census alongside an overall decline in the Christian figures recorded in the census.